SAE Institute Oxford
SAE 502: Critical Analysis Essay
The Comparative analyses of the film V for Vendetta and the song Get Up Stand Up by Bob Marley and how they relate to the social context of Marxism.
James Cunningham
17658
ADHE0514
Assignment Code
Word Count:
Module Leader/Lecturer: Ben Hall
Table of Contents
Title Page
Abstract
Table of Contents
Introduction (word count)
Main Body (word Count)
Conclusion (word Count)
Appendices
Reference List
Introduction
One of the themes that influenced many artists in the past is standing up for your rights. ‘V for Vendetta’ (2005) and ‘Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up’ (1973) has been chosen because the author supports these works fit into the social context of Marxism.
This essay traverses through Karl Marx’s history and his pioneering works on Marxism. Marxism is then related to the film V for Vendetta and Bob Marley’s track ‘Get Up, Stand Up’, and how both of them are Marxist approaches to inculcate in the society.
From the outset, Marxism will be examined in terms of the historical aspect and materialistic ideology. Moreover, the study will look at how these elements were manipulated by the powers that be. There follows a short synopsis of the film ‘V for Vendetta’ and an analysis of specific scenes that relate to the Marxist theory. Subsequently, the discussion will focus on Marley’s influence on Jamaican politics and consequently an analysis on how Marley’s Get Up Stand Up (1973)
One of the honors for ‘greatest theories’ in contemporary civilization has to be awarded to Marxism. Invented in late 19th century by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Marxism has had great influences on the development of modern society. Despite its eventual failure, Marxism once led to numerous revolutions that working classes raised against the ruling parties in different countries. Consequently, it paved the way for the erection of the Berlin Wall, the formation of the Warsaw Treaties—communist camp confronting NATO, and the establishment of a world super power, the Soviet Union at the dawn of this century. Even decades later, after all those Marxist milestones
In Danny Boyle’s film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, a vast range of effective film techniques are used to communicate not only transitions and character traits/personalities, but also the ideas of how power can corrupt individuals, and how ideas can be communicated, such as how ambition can enhance an individual, or be the reason for their downfall, and how our past informs our future; our outcome in life is determined by where we’ve come from. They are able to visualise this with the three main characters. The protagonist Jamal, the antagonist Salim and Latika.
Disney’s Pixar film, A Bug’s Life, is much more than meets the eye. The film is not only an animated comedy; it holds deep sociological theory within its plot. Many of the major themes and concepts of the movie can be viewed through the lens of the famous theorist Karl Marx. Marx’s theory is famous for focusing on how society functions. In particular he concerns himself with how capitalism, the working class, and the revolutions create problems in our society. My paper will analyze how Marxian theory and concepts fit into major climactic scenes of the film.
Marxism is a critical perspective based off of the ideas of Karl Marx, with Marx’s most famous work being the Communist Manifesto. This book illustrates
▪ Marxism – fundamentally anchored on the work of Karl Marx, Marxism is a dominant critical theory born in the middle of the 19th century and flourished tremendously throughout the twentieth century. Marxism identifies social and economic factors as crucial denominators of relationship in society. This short story has very strong social problems. The people of the Marxist time are afraid of new technologies
Marxism is often cited as being irrelevant within contemporary society due to the fact that Marx had critiqued an almost incomparable society. McDonald & Brownlee (2001) argue
Because are so many different kinds of revolutions with their own theoretical frameworks, I will analyze the merits of Marxism as it unfolds in the various authors. Because the writers speak of a particular time and place, all examinations will limit itself to the Europe in the lifetimes of the authors, drawing from V for Vendetta and modernity mostly as counterexamples. Therefore, this paper will focus on Marxist revolutions in mid-19th century to early 20th century Europe.
In the words of Karl Marx, the founding father of Marxism, Marxism principally believes that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” In essence, Marx asserts that every day is a tale of conflict between society’s upper and lower class. While controversial in the real world, this notion is not far-fetched in the realm of literature. For example, Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” shows prominent signs of tension between classes. When examined from a Marxist perspective, Walker’s characters in “Everyday Use” highlight how each class values items and how survival needs and societal expectations differ among classes.
The song “Get Up Stand Up” was released in 1973.The social context of this period has a major impact on the choice of lyrics in this song. This song became a huge part of the human rights movement in Jamaica. The lyrics are politically motivated and wanting change. The song talks about the necessary actions that need to be taken to avoid the current oppression in Jamaica. One of the more important topics of the song was the fight for everyone to have their unalienable rights and to say that they are not just reserved for the upper class. Another point of view was the song defending the commonly misunderstood Rastafarian religion. The three people that worked on the song Tosh, Marley, and Wailer were all faithful advocates of the reggae and Rastafarian movement.
Derived from opinions and views of the Father of Communism and adapted to fit literature both modern and classic, the Marxist lens is a particular way to view literature in relation to a powerful bourgeoisie that abuses a less powerful or economically prevalent proletariat. Upon viewing a text through this lens, common themes such as said abusement and commonly struggles for power become commonplace. Through these lens, one can view Shakespeare’s Hamlet and find social classes set in the book and desires for power within and between them. While viewing Hamlet through the Marxist lens, one could identify the tragedy as a struggle for power and a lesson on retaliation and violence overall.
Through the theoretical approach of Marxism, The Beauty and The Beast (2017) is a Disney film that depicts the divide between class structures in a traditionally oriented society. The Marxist theory is used as a tool to analyze the film in order to have the ability to examine the core concepts of the theory and investigate the theme of the film in its entirety. The film depicts two class structures that consist of lower, peasant-like villagers and a middle-class structure. The film depicts various social hierarchy’s that attempts to challenge humanities perception of power through the theory of Marxism. This paper will describe how the theoretical approach of Marxism applies to the Disney film, The Beauty and the Beast (2017) through
Karl Marx (1818-1883) was one of the most influential thinkers and writers of modern times. Although it was only until after his death when his doctrine became world know and was titled Marxism. Marx is best known for his publication, The Communist Manifesto that he wrote with Engels; it became a very influential for future ideologies. A German political philosopher and revolutionary, Karl Marx was widely known for his radical concepts of society. This paper give an analysis of “The Manifesto” which is a series of writings to advocate Marx ‘s theory of struggles between classes. I will be writing on The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, which lays down his theories on socialism and Communism.
The parallels between the theme of the film and rising fears of communism and related topics of concern during that time are captivating. Communism was an ideology originating in the Soviet Union with the ideas of establishing a
Marxism are set of views acknowledged by many individuals and a lot of views presented in works of other authors are often compared to the ideas that of Karl Marx. Here, the idea presented by George Bernard Shaw in his play is compared to Marx’s ideas on Marxism and social hierarchy relationship. There exists a relationship between the viewpoints of Karl Marx and George Bernard Shaw in the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The interpretation of the social hierarchy by each author disagrees with one another. With these circumstances, Marxist theorists will admonish the idea portrayed in the play because of contradicting interpretation that
The first communication concept relates to empathy and empathic communication, both Bob and Ziggy Marley display this throughout their music. Empathy defined by Julia T. Wood, “is the ability to feel with another person, to feel what she or he feels in a situation. Our feelings tend to be guided by our own emotional tendencies and experiences” (78). In the fullest sense, this implies putting yourself into the other person’s shoes, to experience their life, so that you really understand and feel; pain, anger, frustration, joy, spiritual uplift and happiness. Bob Marley is empathetic in nature, he is “someone who appears to speak for the people. It is his music, his life story, his worldview and the way he carries himself -- he seems like an extension of the people and their leader. He seems like a sort of Cultural Senator, a man who represents his people” (Toure 2017). Bob Marley expresses empathy throughout his song “Get Up Stand Up,” by giving us examples of what life was like in the 1960’s in Jamaica. Paying close attention to the words and the connotations associated with those words, we can get an idea to what was going on during that era. From the beginning, reggae was political, as the work of Bob clearly attests. When he chants, “Get up \ Stand up \ Stand up for your rights!” you can feel how important this issue is to him. By translating this one lyric, you can imagine the details of his experiences and the emotions associated with them. The lyrics of this song relates to the struggles and inequality of the society and the harsh realities of a post-independent Jamaica. Nearly the entire song has a political slant to it in some shape or form. The political unrest which was taking place at the time was extremely intense, this song urged people to raise and stand up and fight for their rights and to be proactive.